Holger Schmidt-Hamann

Holger Schmidt-Hamann

Word has been received here of the death of Holger Schmidt-Hamann August 15 at his home in Wedel, Germany, a suburb of Hamburg. He had previously lived for many years in the West Lafayette, where he owned a house at 2205 Indian Trail Drive.

Holger was born in Hamburg on October 11, 1937, where his Father Bruno Schmidt owned a successful automotive business inherited from Holger's grandfather. Fichtel und Sachs specialized in clutch and brake repair and replacement. The turbulent times of the late 1930s soon led to the commandeering of the company's services by the NAZI party. Among, a number of fascinating recollections of the War as experienced from a child's perspective was the ominous warning that his father received from a fortune-teller, sometime prior to 1939: "Hamburg will burn Herr Schmidt; you must move your family!" And so it was that Holger and his older brother, Uwe, spent the war years in the northern village of Keisdorf While their father commuted to the factory in Bremen. Holger recounted the excitement of the two running in their lederhosen to the crash site of a hapless B-17 or Lancaster bomber.

At war's end the family house in Hamburg was occupied by British military staff and thus providing the two boys with an early exposure to English. He recalled that the family's heirloom furniture caught the eye of occupying officers who had notions of shipping several pieces back to Britain but his mother, who spoke English well, was helpful in translating British army directives and thus ultimately was able to thwart these intentions.

Following the War Holger was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. Upon returning to Hamburg, he apprenticed as a machinist. He also became fascinated with sailing. His father helped him buy a boat and, together with a crew of young friends, they were soon sailing on the Elbe River. From there they often ventured into the Nordsee and on north to Denmark. He retained a lifelong friendship with several of these sailing mates.

Holger first arrived in this country in 1959 through the auspices of Dr. Albert P. Stewart, the founder and director of Purdue Musical Organizations. It was during one of the Glee Club's two tours of Europe that an audition was arranged and the PMO director, impressed with Holger's bass-baritone, suggested that he pursued engineering studies at Purdue. With a Green Card in hand, arranged for by his father at the U.S. Consulate, he arrived on campus for the fall semester and Al Stewart, great showman that he was, wasted no time in featuring him as a soloist with the Glee Club. He became fond of telling audiences, "Close your eyes and listen to this young man's voice and see if it doesn't bring to mind the late Ezio Pinza!"

This was Holger's cue to perform Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Some Enchanted Evening". Other staples in his Glee Club repertoire included "The Song of the Volga Boatman", sung in Russian, and "Dein Ist Mein Ganzest Herz" (Yours Is My Heart Alone) from Franz Lehar's popular operetta, "Das Land Das Lehelns" (The Land of Smiles)_, which he sang in both German and English. In addition to bi- or even tri-weekly concerts, with the Glee Club, Holger also sang with the PMO professional traveling group known as the Collegiate Singers, which included such stalwarts as Bob and Jim Griffiths and Ted Gruell, who had formed the Griffiths' Brothers Trio, Bob Tam, Isaac Peltanovitch, Al Jewel, and Mickey McGuire, who was also director of the Purduettes.

Incongruently and despite his father's wishes, Holger's heart was not in the sciences or engineering. Instead, he longed to continue a career in music.

When his father became ill in the early 1960s, Holger returned to Germany to help run the family business. But music was never far away. He resumed his lessons with the noted, Hamburg vocal coach Molly Steinmetz, who encouraged him to specialize in German Lieder. He also took a stage name: Holger Van Bargen.

It was at the urging of Al Stewart that Holger purchased a large house on Indian Trail Drive and he remained close to the staff at PMO. He enjoyed traveling and concertized in Mexico and Japan as well as his native Germany. In 1988 he gave a concert of German Lieder at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.

Kindhearted by nature, he helped several young men, whom he met in his travels to come to Germany in pursuit of training in various trades.

Happily, he leaves us the legacy of his voice in the form of a vinyl LP recorded in Germany in the late 1970s, with Koichi Yasui, his accompanist at the piano.

He is buried in the family grave site in Hamburg. He is survived by his brother Uwe.

Memorials may be sent to Purdue Musical Organizations.